Tuesday

Sep 10, 2019 at 5:44 PMSep 11, 2019 at 5:41 AM

The debate about "red-flag" legislation has begun in the Ohio General Assembly.

Just over a month after a gunman in Dayton killed nine people and left 27 injured, touching off proposals from both Republicans and Democrats to curb gun violence, the first gun bill on the docket for state lawmakers to consider following their summer recess had its first committee hearing Tuesday.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Sandra Williams, D-Cleveland, would give common pleas courts the power to issue “extreme risk protection orders” against individuals found to be a danger to themselves or others. Sen. Peggy Lehner, a Republican from the Dayton suburb of Kettering, said shortly after the mass shooting that she would become a primary sponsor of the measure.

Williams testified Tuesday about the bill in the Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee.

That so-called red-flag provision is similar to one Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, proposed in a package of proposals to curb gun violence that he unveiled just days after the Dayton shooting, with one key difference: “ex parte” orders.

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Under Williams’ proposal, a common pleas judge could issue an ex parte order without the gun owner's knowledge after determining the individual is a significant danger to himself or herself or to others. That would allow law enforcement to immediately seize guns, and the gun owner would not have the chance to appear at a full hearing for up to 14 days.

At the full hearing, the judge then would decide whether to issue an order lasting up to a year.

Gun-rights groups have called ex parte orders an affront to due process. While DeWine’s office has not released legislative language detailing his proposals, his red-flag plan doesn’t provide for them. In details released to the public, the governor’s office has said his proposal would require a hearing be held within three days of a request to confiscate guns. No seizure could take place until after the hearing.

DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney said the administration is drafting its language, but it is not expected to be released before the governor returns Sunday from a trade mission in Japan.

“People have a right under the Constitution to a firearm for their own protection and security. You can’t just take that away unilaterally,” he said.

Williams said she is open to changes to the bill, including removing the ex parte hearing, as long as that coincides with reducing the waiting period before a full hearing is required.

“I’m in the minority. Whatever I can do to get my bill passed, I’m open to it,” she said. “We want to make sure due process is there. If 14 days is too long, let’s reduce it to three. I’m open to three. I’m open to one if that’s the case. We can get that person off the streets and before a judge.”

Williams’ bill would allow family or household members, law enforcement officers or law enforcement agencies to file petitions for red-flag orders. They would have to make their case in a sworn affidavit. Knowingly filing for an order with false information or as a means to harass an individual would be a third-degree misdemeanor.

Several factors could be considered as evidence that a protection order should be granted, including recent threats, previous protection orders, a domestic violence conviction and prior arrests for felonies or violent crimes, among others.

A person who is found to have a gun while they are under an order would be guilty of a third-degree misdemeanor for their first offense and a fifth-degree felony for all subsequent offenses.

If an ex parte order is issued, law enforcement officers serving the order must request the immediate surrender of the individual’s guns along with any concealed-carry permit.

Groups that represent Ohio law enforcement officers said Tuesday that they have not yet formed a position on the various red-flag proposals. But they downplayed any potential problems with serving orders to confiscate guns when the individual knows they are coming.

“We have that situation now with protection orders. … You can take the necessary precautions for that sort of thing,” said Mike Weinman, government affairs director for the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police. “Sometimes it might turn into a barricade. Sometimes not.”

Law enforcement officials would follow the same protocol in serving such an order as they would any response to an individual with a gun, said Robert Cornwell, executive director of the Buckeye State Sheriffs Association.

“Whether they know it or not, if they have a firearm and we respond to that, there’s always a heightened alert on for our guys,” he said. “Whether there’s a hearing or not, there’s not any difference.

"Whether we give them three-day notice, we know it’s a bad situation.”

Dispatch Reporter Randy Ludlow contributed to this story.

rrouan@dispatch.com

@RickRouan

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